Snoop Dogg Explains Making Reggae Music

Snoop Dogg explains wanting to do a reggae album as a spiritual revelation.

Snoop Dogg is foraying into the sounds of reggae, as he experiences some kind of mid-life crisis, choosing to re-invent himself as Snoop Lion.

The 40-year-old rapper says rap is no longer challenging, which is why he wants try something new, that new thing being reggae music with producer Diplo. The two worked on a reggae album in Jamaica, all of which was documented in the film REINCARNATED.

At a press conferences in New York, Snoop told the crowd he's always felt like he was Bob Marley reincarnated. "I have always said I was Bob Marley reincarnated." He added, "I feel I have always been a Rastafari. I just didn’t have my third eye open, but its wide open right now."

"There comes a point where you say I done it all, or there isn’t much more to do," Snoop said of his change in musical direction. "This was like a rebirth for me."

He continued to explain how he's grown old in rap and he wants to start something fresh again, "Rap is not a challenge to me. I had enough of that. It’s not appealing to me no more. I don’t have no challenges. I’m ‘Uncle Snoop’ in rap. When you get to be an uncle, you need to find a new profession so you can start over and be fresh again. I want to be a kid again."

Of his reggae music, Snoop calls it "true Reggae music." "We wanted it to feel like a record out of a 1970s collection," Snoop Lion said. "When you look back you give respect and love and that is what this record is all about. It’s about giving homage to those who created Reggae music."

Listen to the first single from Snoop Lion & Diplo, "La La La," below.